I taught the Easter lesson today for the kids at church. We split into two groups, so I first taught the older kids (8-11 years old), and it went great-- no problems. I brought in my computer, and for part of the lesson we all gathered around and watched this youtube video. I had already found the clip at home and cued it to the right spot (we started at 4:50), so it was ready to go. My favorite part is the last minute (starting at 8:45) when it flashes through some of Christ's miracles. The kids were all quiet and glued to the screen as they watched.
When it was time to teach the Easter lesson for the younger children (3-7 years old), I moved the video back to the spot I wanted, and pressed play. The youtube video worked normally for 20 seconds, and then froze. The kids all turned around towards me to see what I would do, and I assured them it would come back on again. We sat in silence and waited. And waited and waited. After almost a minute, I went to the laptop, tried a few buttons (play, pause, refresh, play, pause, refresh...) and got no response-- everything was frozen!
I mentally scrambled for a Plan B, and while I was doing so I said aloud, "uh-oh, the computer isn't working! Maybe we should say a prayer that it will work so we can watch the rest of the video." A 4-year old girl raised her hand to pray, came to the front of the room and said,
Heavenly Father, please bless this computer to get fixed right now. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
As she was saying her quick prayer, I felt like slapping my forehead. I was setting this girl (and all the other kids) up for failure! The computer/internet/whatever wasn't working, and I didn't want it to shake everyone's faith if the direct, specific prayer wasn't answered.
Well, 3 seconds after she said "amen," the computer snapped back into action, and we were able to watch the rest of the video. The adults were all stunned at the instant response, but the children weren't.
I actually have a theory about children and prayers. I think God tries to make it obvious for children that he's listening to their prayers and aware of their needs, so they get a lot of fast, dramatic answers and miracles. It makes it easy for them to connect the cause with the effect. For adults, there's often not-so-instant results, which develops patience, endurance, and fine-tuning to understand how the Lord communicates with us.
Anyway, I was happy to witness this miracle today, and grateful that God sent his technology angel to our Primary room to answer this 4-year old girl's prayer. We got to watch the video on Christ's miracles in Jerusalem, and in the meantime we witnessed one of our own.
7 comments:
what a great experience!
I love this post. I agree! What a special teaching moment - The Spirit taught more than you'd planned on that day! I love how God works. He is truly in the details of our lives.
Wish we could be there to celebrate Easter with you! Ellie and Nathan loved watching this video you posted.
And Nathan kept pointing and saying "Jesus! Jesus!" and then "Abba! Abba! Abba! Abba!" over and over again. I kept wondering where he got "Abba" from and then I wondered if he remembers something I don't! Children are truly of the Kingdom of Heaven! We miss yours! :)
So sweet!
Oh how much I love this. So sweet, Karisa. I read this to Dan and we called it good for FHE after that.
What a sweet post and experience. You are a great President those kids are lucky to have you!
Thank you for your sweet reminder about prayer! Your blog is a delight!
In a fast & testimony meeting right after this experience, Karisa told about this and included a few other details (about the passing time - the anxiousness and comments from the kids, etc.) and with the lovely, heartfelt way Karisa explains things, hearing about this was an immeasurably enriching experience.
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